Nobles and Neckbeards Sessions
Six friends/acquaintances graduate from an esteemed academy in the heart of the Sevoh Empire and get the idea (and permission from the headmasters) to establish and run their own Fortress, becoming Lords and Ladies in the process. While living the high life above the common rabble has its perks, it quickly becomes apparent that responsibility knocks with a hand that never tires... * Alphanumerics will be used to represent the order of past sessions when specific dates cannot be recalled! Friday, July 18th, 2014 Beaks, Gnilon, Jarrett, Jayce, Rika & Shilana have begun construction on their Keep, deciding on the centrally-located farming town of Rutch, with grant money from the academy, which will take some time to fully construct. As they oversee construction and go about their daily activities during the wait, a messenger from the King arrives to inform them that, before they can be deemed Lords and Ladies of the Empire, they must fulfill a task. A crown has been carefully hidden in a crypt not far from the site of their Keep, and they must prove their mettle by traversing its depths and returning with the royal symbol. Pooling their resources and combat prowess, they group enters the crypt and dispatch a small group of orcs found in a tomb below, claiming the crown left behind. Upon returning to the messenger and riding with him to the Capital to claim their Lordship, they discover that the orcs were manually placed there and were in the know regarding the test, and that it would have been preferred that they weren't slaughtered as they had been. Shrugs and sheepishness all around, cue the Benny Hill chase music as the group is chased out of the royal palace, titles in hand! Friday, April 3rd, 2015 Lords and Ladies from all over the Empire are invited to a massive masquerade party hosted by the Mage's Guild in Eldric's Crossing, including the Legion of Dööm and their distinguished guests. Jayce cannot attend due to interfering business plans elsewhere. At the party, a game is played where the attendees try to figure out the identity of a guest who is different from the rest, with Shilana coming out as the winner. Lady Llewlyn is antagonized by Gnilon, and much drinking occurred. Friday, April 10th, 2015 Jayce has left on a diplomacy mission with Kevin Zaon, his sister Rae, and their family friend Setsuna, and will return in several weeks. Meanwhile, incentive to begin mining operations at the base of the mountain just north of Rutch has sprung forth, only to be undermined by a disturbed colony of goblins during the initial scouting phase. After much hemming and hawing (nearly 3 weeks' worth, in fact), Rika and Lady Martell take a pair of guards to go and investigate the incident, with Shilana following at a distance and avoiding detection. Against their earlier intention, they wind up slaughtering the goblin colony in self-defense, only to catch sight of a winged goblin that they may or may not have seen by one or more of them, before. Shilana comes upon them as the battle is winding down, and saves one of the guards who fell during the attack. Upon returning to the Keep, the group finds that a ransom note has been sent to them, stating that Lady Llewlyn has been kidnapped and demanding 20,000 gold as payment for her release. The note implies a location of "where the mermaids swim" as a meeting place. Friday, April 24th, 2015 In response to the ransom note regarding Lady Llewlyn's capture, the Legion of Dööm devises a rescue plan that involves reassuring Lord Ringles and sneaking through the town to the underwater labyrinth so that the general public were not thrown further into disarray. Once teeming with aquatic life and mermaid presence, there was now neither, visceral pieces and brutal remnants of both spread throughout the area. At the end of the cavern, two members of the "Imposter Group" that had been encountered before were waiting with Lady Llewlyn, and informed the rescuers that the ransom note was merely a ruse intended to bring them here and bask in their greatness. Gorgon, a goblin runt infatuated with Gnilon, offered him the opportunity to finish Llewlyn's sacrifice that he had started in his honor. In a lengthy exchange of words and deceit between both parties, Gorgon was brought to justice, while William, a mage with similarities to Jayce, put his would-be captors into a magic-induced slumber and made his escape. Lady Llewlyn was saved, Gorgon was interrogated to no avail, and upon their return, the Legion of Dööm received a present from the royal capital of Eldric's Crossing: a fantastic banner with their representing symbol, allowing them to further cement their place in the Sevoh Empire. Friday, May 1st, 2015 Attempting to melt down and make something of the numerous metals stored in the Legion of Dööm's warehouse, the smith Haggar states that the pile of Vibranium bits acquired from a previous campaign cannot be broken down properly due to needing an increased heat source beyond what a standard forge can offer. The group descends into a mineshaft just northeast of Rutch, finding levels lower than what was initially discovered by the general mining force, and finding through a mass of strange creatures adherent to the mine itself. At the end, a massive slime fused with the heat crystal needed to fulfill Haggar's request, but the group was able to defeat it and return, victorious. Strangely, Beaks had been absent for awhile, both before and after this task... Friday, May 8th, 2015 Rika spent her time trying to buy a new summer home, while Gnilon and Duvall got drunk on Beaks' tab. A notice from High Lord Ringles for the Legion of Dööm warned them of a mysterious black fog in the forest between Rutch and Seacrest, as well as informed them that Gorgon was found dead with sacrificial runes on his body. The group went into the forest to find the source of the problem and found many Seacrest residents trapped in human sized plant pods. After fighting off podmen and treants the group came upon the fog-like wraith of Gorgon and dispatched him from the area. To their horror they found a pod with Beaks inside barely clinging to life, a fresh spear wound through his body and missing one arm. Friday, May 22nd, 2015 Beaks gradually recovered from the trauma he had sustained, albeit extremely agitated over the loss of his arm. A courier arrived with the declaration of a Hunting Festival to take place at Eldric's Crossing, much to the irony of their situation. Deciding that there was little they could actually do for Beaks at home, the rest of the Legion of Dööm participated in the festival and its associated hunting game that was put on by the Mage's Guild. Assisted by his colleagues, Lord Jayce dominated the competition and achieved victory by a wide margin; when asked to claim his prize, he asked for a Token of Favor in its stead, that he might decide what he wanted at a later date. Reveling in victory, Jayce bought his comrades a round of drinks at the tavern, then returned home. Upon their arrival, they found Beaks and a strange priestess undergoing some sort of test or training, but the latter departed toward Rutch before too many questions could be asked. Friday, May 29th, 2015 The Legion of Dööm receive a request from someone named 'Oliver' to enact a trade: their favor and cooperation in exchange for an Aethir Artifact. Recognizing the name as the supposed mastermind behind the Dööm Doppelgangers, the crew set out to a decrepit inn near Mantua that is supposed to be the location of exchange, recruiting a small regiment of soldiers from Eldric's Crossing along the way to serve as backup. Once they arrive, Oliver does not show up over a period of three days, forcing the group to enter a hidden manor connected to the inn and find not their host, but a pregnant half-orc who claims to be his trade officiant. Angered by the wasted time and subsequent delusion by Oliver, as well as rising suspicion over Rika's purported involvement with Oliver and the Doppelgangers, a heated argument comes to an explosive head when, after everyone else refuses to cooperate with the woman, Rika produces her own Favor Token and completes the deal. She is harshly berated for her rashness by practically all other members of the Legion of Dööm, especially Jayce and Shilana, and just short of expelled from the Fort. She leaves on her own, as does the furious Shilana, and the Legion of Dööm's state of affairs is left in question. Friday, June 5th, 2015 Hurrying back to Rutch after spending a couple of days away to cool his jets, Jayce manages to find Rika at the local inn. He persuades her to return to the Fort with him, upon which he calls a meeting to try and establish a means to their end, as well as determine whether Rika is in for the long haul or not. Details emerge from Rika about Oliver and their shared past, and it is made clear that if Rika wants to be free of her bindings, something will need to be done about Oliver. Attempts were also made to form some sort of leadership or representation from one among the six, but reached inconclusive results and were shelved for another time. Friday, June 12th, 2015 Of all people, Jarrett Tastybiscuit went missing. Following clues in his room, the rest of the Legion of Dööm found a wardrobe that he had purchased recently, and upon opening it, discovered that it acted as a portal to some land that none of them had ever heard of (which was just as well, since nobody there had heard of them, either). As the search for Tastybiscuit continued, the group was annoyed to discover that many of their skills and abilities did not function as they were used to, and the people were significantly unhelpful (although fairly amusing, at least according to Gnilon), with the exception of a gift of a strange ring. Finding a very large manor some distance away, the final push to locate Tastybiscuit culminated in a vision from Jarrett himself within the ring's effects. Darkness overcame them all, and when it cleared, Mr. Biscuit himself (and everyone else) was in his room, and he had no recollection of anything that had transpired, though he did admit to greatly liking his wardrobe. Everyone then rolled initiative. Friday, June 19th, 2015 As work continued on the tunnel connecting western Sevoh to the Dwarven cities up north, the Legion of Dööm were visited by Lord Dallin Martell, who advised them on the progress on the tunnel and also offered to lease them the rights to explore a ruin that was unearthed during the digging. Plundering through its secrets and watching for traps, the group (minus Gnilon and Beaks, who had remained at the Keep) eventually came to a dead end and attempted to backtrack, but discovered by way of a passing goblin caravan that they'd somehow emerged from the ruin twenty-five years into the future; the Izar had somehow acquired all of the Aethir Weapons and slain or exiled most of the gods, leaving the world a chaotic mess upon which they reigned virtually unopposed. Future Gnilon was now in charge of Rutch, and the time travelers assisted him in fending off a small army of abominations. After the victory, Gnilon revealed to them a strange door underneath the fortress; inside awaited the child goddess, Quellious, who informed them of this future that may await them if they allow the Artifact Weapons to fall into the wrong hands, and requested that they find a way to destroy at least one of them in order to prohibit their god-slaying capabilities. The group then was allowed to return home to the present, where they were now faced with the realization that the Aethir Temple under their Keep was as much a burden as a benefit. Friday, June 26th, 2015 Rika gathered the Legion of Dööm together and expressed concern over her business ties to the Izar, after seeing what havoc they had wrought in the future. Dismissed as a 'watch and wait' situation by Jayce, the latter had to leave suddenly due to a family emergency, and a few peaceful days followed. J'zalgo, the Mages' Guild representative in Rutch, paid them a visit and asked for assistance alongside his hired mercenary in locating alchemical ingredients in the northwest corner of the Sevoh Empire, which they agreed to. Later that day, Kevin Zaon came to the Keep and also asked for assistance, as his 'pet' cave dragon had disappeared earlier somewhere in the Mirthwell Heights mountain cave network. Agreeing to this as well, Gnilon himself paid up J'zalgo's mercenary for an extra day so that they could assist Kevin without dismissing their original agreement. Several dead-ends were reached, but eventually the dragon was located and rescued from a pair of hostile ferrous dragons, who chased them out of the cave. Kevin thanked them and left, and the group rested up for the day, as J'zalgo would likely come knocking on the following morning. Friday, July 3rd, 2015 J'zalgo did indeed return on the following morning, and after ensuring all was well, left his hired man in the charge of the Legion of Dööm. Though a bit odd and slightly overconfident in his mannerisms, 'Steve' and the group traveled northwest, stopping briefly at Silverpoint, to the Pashhow Marshlands, where they managed to lay the beatdown on a number of tentacled swamp beasts known as Malboros, as per J'zalgo's request, including a large fight involving multiple within an underground nest. Taking a couple of unhatched eggs and as many severed Malboro vines as they could carry, the group returned to Rutch (although Shilana and Jarrett experienced an odd sense of deja vu along the way, but couldn't quite put their fingers on what it was) and were rewarded with an excellent pile of cash. Gnilon attempted to recruit 'Steve' to their order, but he declined, saying that his life belonged to the road and anyone willing to pay up the coin for his services, in that order. Friday, July 10th, 2015 A quiet month has passed and everybody is attending to their own business. Rika stresses her concern over the Izar's connections to her orphanage scenario, and disappears in Seacrest for a few days. When the rest of the group go to find her, they also learn of strange instances where women are disappearing along the road between Seacrest and the Fist. They discover a large manor within the small town of Pinata, due west of Seacrest. The owner, an imposing man by the name of Bathory, boasts an impressive infatuation with Shilana. After sneakily infiltrating the establishment and turning the house servant to their side, a convent of vampire-like creatures are discovered in the basement below, along with several captured maidens. Despite Jarrett's sudden and unfortunate cowardice, the Legion of Dööm prevails over the bloodthirsty menagerie, and discovers the location of another Aethir Artifact. Upon returning home, however, it is revealed that the Artifact does not fit in any of the hollows of the Aethir Temple, much to Jayce's chagrin. Friday, July 17th, 2015 On the advent of another house meeting, Rika unhelpfully doled out another tidbit of information regarding Oliver that did not really give the Legion of Dööm any more of an advantage against him, while still retaining her secrecy over every other question that was fired at her; conversely, Jayce announced that the injured family friend he went to visit made a full recovery, and he invited them to a special festival that was taking place in Ymir about 3 months hence. A few days later, the group was called to Eldric's Crossing where the deans of the adventuring college had a questionnaire ready, regarding their success and future plans as lords of Sevoh; the group was granted a large sum of money to continue funding their future, so long as they continued to provide a virtuous example to the up-and-coming prospects of the Sevoh Empire's future. NEXT PAGE